1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to medical devices which are used for the irradiation of biological tissues, such as devices for the ablation of biological tissues, and more particularly to a combined angioplasty and tissue ablation apparatus.
2. Related Art
Angioplasty procedures, short for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (“PTCA”) have been in extensive use in the United States since 1980 for the relief of angina (chest pain) and prevention of heart attacks. In angioplasty procedures, an inflatable balloon is inserted into a clogged artery and inflated at the clogged site to clear blockage, thus allowing the restoration of blood flow. Before angioplasty, bypass surgery was the only option for people with clogged arteries. In bypass surgery, doctors must open the patient's chest to reroute blood vessels to the heart. Angioplasty is less invasive, as the balloon is fed in through the blood vessels without the necessity of opening the chest of the patient. Thus, patient recovery time is generally faster with angioplasty, than with bypass surgery.
In common angioplasty procedures, a catheter threaded on a thin guidewire is passed into the blood vessel. The catheter, which is a tubular medical device, is about 3 ft (91 cm) long. The surgeon feeds the catheter through the blood vessels into the coronary artery. The catheter releases dye, so its precise position can be seen on a fluoroscope. When the first catheter is in place at the clogged arterial site, the surgeon feeds a smaller, balloon-tipped catheter through it. The length of the balloon is approximately equal to the length of the clogged or partially blocked region to be treated. The surgeon guides the balloon-tipped catheter into the narrowed artery until the balloon is aligned with the correct region, and the balloon is then inflated. Inflation of the balloon expands the artery, clears the arterial blockage and restores or otherwise improves the blood flow. After the procedure, the balloon is deflated and the catheter is withdrawn form the artery. At times, in connection with the angioplasty procedure, a stent is mounted in a collapsed configuration over the balloon on the catheter and introduced into the blood vessel. Mounted on the inflating balloon, the stent expands as the balloon is inflated at the clogged arterial site, locks in place and forms a scaffold to hold the artery open.
The common observation in angioplasty is that up to half of all patients who undergo the procedure could experience restenosis—the re-narrowing of a coronary artery—or the formation of new blockages at the site of the angioplasty due to thrombosis, or blood clotting, or tissue growth at the site of treatment. While blood clot might be prevented or controlled by anti-clotting drugs, tissue growth, which is a proliferation of the “endothelial” cells, would tend to occur during the first 3 to 6 months after the procedure, and is not prevented by anti-clotting drugs. Accordingly angioplasty with or without stenting could eventually require a repeat procedure.
Various attempts have been made to address scar tissue build-ups. One approach is to apply energy to the clogged or restricted arterial site via tissue ablation with the objective of changing the properties of the biological tissues so as to reduce or present restenosis. Tissue ablation may employ different energy exchange modes, for example heat conduction and irradiation and means, such as radiofrequency, ultrasound, laser, cryogenic, and the like.
Within the radio frequency (RF) range, certain microwave ablation systems are used to destroy or ablate biological tissues. In one application, a microwave ablation system is used to ablate cardiac tissues that cause irregular heartbeats or arrhythmia, avoiding the need for more risky and invasive open heart surgery. In such an application, an ablation member such as an RF antenna is incorporated as part of a catheter, which can be deployed within the body vessel.